For sports that use a ball, it is common for a person to practice making contact with (i.e. by hitting, kicking, throwing or striking) the ball to propel it in a direction. Repetition during practice helps achieve precision in making contact with the ball in the proper manner to propel the ball in a desired direction. To be able to practice hitting, kicking, throwing or striking a ball, there is a need to constantly retrieve the ball, so that it can be hit, kicked, thrown or strike repeatedly.
One way to achieve this is to have another person catch the ball and return it to the hitter. Another way to achieve this is to utilize a net system. A typical prior art net system includes a rectangular shaped frame with a net mounted across the frame. A ball hit into the net is bounced back, usually not directly to the user unless the ball hit the net at an angle normal to the plane of the net. Therefore, a user of such prior art net system has to, disadvantageously, constantly move to different positions to catch the returned ball. Examples of similar prior art systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,905,996 and 5,269,527.
Another prior art net system utilizes a net that is configured into a pocket shape to collect balls, which may then be returned to the user via formed chutes. With the need of extraneous structure and parts such as chutes disadvantageously make such prior art system more difficult to transport or assembled. Examples of similar prior art systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,805,070 and 6,620,064.
Therefore, there is a need for a portable multi-sports ball return net system that can be easily transported and returns a ball to the user with minimal or no effort of the user to retrieve the returned ball.